Former All Blacks skills coach Mick Byrne joins Wallabies
Former All Blacks skills coach Mick Byrne joins Wallabies
Renowned former All Blacks skills coach Mick Byrne has been snapped up by the Wallabies just a matter of months after leaving New Zealand, in what's been hailed a coup for the Australian Rugby Union.
After helping the All Blacks to back-to-back Rugby World Cup wins, the kicking coach announced in December that he was moving back to his homeland of Australia.
Overnight, he confirmed to the Daily Telegraph that he's taken on a role as ARU skills coach, and will begin training with the Wallabies this coming week.
Under the four year deal, Byrne will lead the ARU's development and running skills programmes across all levels of representative rugby, including junior teams and Super Rugby.
Byrne said it was an "exciting challenge" to work alongside Australian coach Michael Cheika.
His first Wallabies clash with the All Blacks will come on August 20, and Byrne admitted it "will be unusual, no doubt about that".
"I have just got to make sure when I walk out of the change rooms I turn the right way," he told the Daily Telegraph.
He expected his switch to the green and gold team would ruffle a few feathers in New Zealand, but joked: "Tongue-in-cheek, I have always been an Aussie over there."
Byrne - a former AFL player who spent 11 years coaching the All Blacks - moved back to Sydney earlier this year to be closer to family.
He took up a coaching position at SportsTek Academies, a high-performance training company.
In March, he indicated a role at the ARU was a possibility, albeit after a bit "more water under the bridge".
The affable Byrne, known as "Mick the Kick", was highly regarded by the All Blacks for his wider breadth of skills that included forwards work with Japan and the Blues.
He was heavily involved in catching and ball handling, skills and was credited with helping turn the All Blacks' tight forwards into ball-running machines and superb support players.
Byrne suggested the team's skill level improved between 30-40 per cent in his department.
From http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/i...oins-wallabies
